A must-read for G322 ocr revision - Show off your knowledge on 9.1.12 (Next Wednesday!!) of the current games industry.
Or read the article after the cut below:
Video games in 2012: year in review
Reality bit the gaming industry this year. Until recently it thought itself recession proof, but continuing studio closures and job cuts across the world destroyed that myth of invincibility.
Sony Liverpool, EA’s Guildford Bright Light and Eurocom were three of
Britain’s highest-profile casualties, while global publishers such as THQ saw
profits tumble. Even Nintendo announced its first annual loss as a public
company.
There was some good news for the UK, however, as the Government finally
announced tax breaks for the domestic games industry. Though after several years
of dallying on the issue and large publishers already withdrawing support from
the UK, the question remains whether it’s too little, too late.
Technological stasis underlined this sense of an industry in trouble. While
we did see the arrival of Nintendo’s idiosyncratic Wii U, Microsoft’s Xbox 360
and Sony’s PlayStation 3 have both arguably reached their limits, and ambitious
developers are waiting for new technology on which to flex their creative
muscles.
Perhaps because of these uncertainties, 2012’s blockbuster games were
exercises in caution and familiarity. Video games have always relied heavily on
sequels and franchises but the number of games with a numeral appended to the
title was frightening, not least because the vast majority were creatively
stagnant.
There was also a continued homogenisation of action-orientated games, overly
keen on replicating the hollow, scripted bombast of Call of Duty. It’s
understandable that people want to copy its popularity: this year’s version (the
ninth), Black Ops II, grossed an extraordinary $1billion in just 15 days, but
its brash, tired formula is leading to an increased sense of bombardment fatigue.
There was better elsewhere. A fan backlash against its finale
notwithstanding, Mass Effect 3 was a stylish closing chapter of a fine sci-fi
opera; Halo 4 wrestled every ounce of power from the Xbox 360 to create a truly
gorgeous world in which to shoot aliens, while Far Cry 3 was an ambitious
open-world shooter with fabulous characterisation and dialogue, spoiled only by
its Heart of Darkness-inspired narrative descending into mystical silliness. Its
problems summed up the year in a nutshell: even the best retail games came with
some kind of caveat.
Still, it was heartening to see Bethesda’s Dishonored finding success, a brand new title whose steampunk imagining of a plague-ridden London proved one of the year’s highlights.
But the true creative success stories were digitally distributed games. Free from the pressures of big business boxed sales, downloadable games are able to provide more diverse pleasures at lower prices. The result is an audience more willing to take a punt on riskier concepts, and developers more willing to provide them.
Two were revelatory. Thatgamecompany’s Journey was a staggeringly beautiful rumination on faith and companionship, as you played a robe-swaddled traveller on a pilgrimage across shifting sands, occasionally accompanied by strangers playing the game at the same time. Telltale’s The Walking Dead, meanwhile, provided a masterclass in interactive storytelling, exploring the human condition while casting you as a paternal protector. Every decision you made had real weight behind it, as you became the de facto leader of a ragtag bunch of wonderfully characterised survivors.
Elsewhere, the startling emergence of crowd-funding on websites such as Kickstarter may see a major shift in how games are published, and the burgeoning independent scene on both PC and smartphone devices continued to impress.
A lower barrier to entry for prospective developers and the ease of distributing games over the internet has paved the way for the second coming of the “bedroom coder”, creating a wildly diverse library of games that may not have the production values of their big-budget cousins, but are full of promise and fresh ideas.
It is this kind of enthusiasm and inventiveness that deserted many of the blockbuster games this year. 2013 will mark the arrival of new technology that may decide the future of this young medium. Let’s hope that it prompts a vibrant creative upsurge as well.
Still, it was heartening to see Bethesda’s Dishonored finding success, a brand new title whose steampunk imagining of a plague-ridden London proved one of the year’s highlights.
But the true creative success stories were digitally distributed games. Free from the pressures of big business boxed sales, downloadable games are able to provide more diverse pleasures at lower prices. The result is an audience more willing to take a punt on riskier concepts, and developers more willing to provide them.
Two were revelatory. Thatgamecompany’s Journey was a staggeringly beautiful rumination on faith and companionship, as you played a robe-swaddled traveller on a pilgrimage across shifting sands, occasionally accompanied by strangers playing the game at the same time. Telltale’s The Walking Dead, meanwhile, provided a masterclass in interactive storytelling, exploring the human condition while casting you as a paternal protector. Every decision you made had real weight behind it, as you became the de facto leader of a ragtag bunch of wonderfully characterised survivors.
Elsewhere, the startling emergence of crowd-funding on websites such as Kickstarter may see a major shift in how games are published, and the burgeoning independent scene on both PC and smartphone devices continued to impress.
A lower barrier to entry for prospective developers and the ease of distributing games over the internet has paved the way for the second coming of the “bedroom coder”, creating a wildly diverse library of games that may not have the production values of their big-budget cousins, but are full of promise and fresh ideas.
It is this kind of enthusiasm and inventiveness that deserted many of the blockbuster games this year. 2013 will mark the arrival of new technology that may decide the future of this young medium. Let’s hope that it prompts a vibrant creative upsurge as well.
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